To Kiss A Frog
by myeveryday
Summary: xPRMFx Her mom had always told her that she was going to have to kiss many frogs to find her prince. Too bad the one she kissed wasn't her prince.
1. Kiss A Frog

**Author's Note:** Hey, I had a sudden urge to write this at 2:30 in the morning… don't ask me why. I had just watched Long Ago and I was like, "Hey, why not write this?" It should be a two-shot or a three-shot. Most likely a three-shot. Possibly a four-shot. Do we even have four-shots? Thanks for reading my strange and odd urge to write. (I also kinda got the whole mom/frog thing from another fic I've read. So, that doesn't really belong to me, but let's face it: many people have probably said it. :) I don't own Power Rangers, either… but that's in my profile.)

* * *

The Rocca twin's mom always said that they'd have to kiss many frogs to find their prince.

Madison Rocca didn't think that she'd actually be kissing an _actual_ frog.

You know. Despite the fact that she hated frogs.

It wasn't that she didn't like Daggeron—she did. He saved her life. That's as good a reason to like anyone. But, as Vida pointed out earlier, he was many years older than her.

"I know that, V," Maddie scoffed, her cheeks turning a bright red. They were in the Rockporium, doing their night shift. Nick, Chip, and Xander were messing around up at the front of the store, while Maddie and Vida manned the register.

Vida propped her elbows up onto the counter and placed her head into her hands. "Just making sure, sis," the older of the Rocca twins said. "And besides; I don't think mom actually meant for you to go and kiss a frog."

Maddie's face broke out into a smile. "I hadn't planned on it!"

Just then, Nick, Chip, and Xander joined them. "Planned on what?" Nick asked.

"Kissing a frog," Vida said in a teasing voice.

Maddie ducked her head, her cheeks turning even redder. She peeked through her hair at Nick, whose face had suddenly darkened over.

"Well, Maddie might've found her prince!" Xander declared in the same teasing voice as Vida. Maddie's elbow shot out and caught Xander in the ribs. He faked hurt as he rubbed the spot where Maddie had elbowed him.

Maddie wrinkled her nose in disgust. "He's so much older than me!" she said. She glanced to Nick, and saw that relief seemed to have passed over his face. Well, she didn't know if she could call it relief. His face wasn't as dark anymore, at any rate.

"But you are 18," Chip said. He too had adopted a teasing voice. "That's makes you completely legal."

"_No_, Chip," Maddie said crossly. She was beginning to get annoyed with their teasing. She promptly turned on her heel and stalked to the employee lounge, intent on staying in there for at least a half an hour. If they were teasing her, the least she could do was make them feel guilty. She smiled to herself as she swung the door shut, immediately going over to the couch.

She didn't notice the foot that stuck itself between the door and the doorframe.

"You must be pretty pissed."

Maddie's head snapped up. There stood Nick, looking slightly sheepish. She smiled at him warmly.

"Not at you," she said.

Nick broke out into a grin, all sheepishness gone. He sat down next to Maddie and kicked his feet up on the coffee table.

"So…" Nick said. He turned his body so he was facing Maddie. "What made you do it?"

Maddie studied Nick. What would make him say that? She found herself shrugging her shoulders instead of actually saying something. She honestly didn't know why she had done it. She hated frogs. Why would she go and pick up one of those slimy… smelly… disgusting… _things_? Let alone put her lips on it.

Nick nodded his head. "Right." He stood up and walked to the door. He stopped with his hand on the knob, looking at Maddie. She was staring straight ahead, studying the blank TV screen. Nick's brow furrowed in thought as he pulled the door open and left, leaving Maddie alone.

She sighed. Her mom had told her that she was going to have to kiss a lot of frogs.

Too bad the one she kissed wasn't her prince.

* * *

**Author's Note:** There we go. The first chapter. There might be a little action in this instead of sappy fluff stuff, so this shouldn't be entirely too boring. Thanks for reading! 


	2. The Reason Why

Author's Note: Just to clear a few things up: My old pen name was bluemystic1993, in case any of you were wondering. Oh, and I don't own Power Rangers. Just saying.

* * *

"I'll hit him for you."

That's what Vida said whenever a boy—or anyone, for that matter—caused Maddie grief. And, as usual, Maddie gave her sister the usual response:

"Vida, don't be ridiculous."

Despite the many threats from Vida, rarely any of them ever came true. Very rarely did Vida ever _actually_ hit someone, let alone one of their very good friends. But, despite all of this, Maddie couldn't help but regret telling Vida about what happened in the employee lounge. She sighed and rolled over on the bed so she was lying on her back.

"I'm not being ridiculous," Vida shot back, as per usual. "I'm just saying, if you want me to hit him, I'll hit him. He deserves to be hit, actually."

"And why does he deserve to be hit?" Maddie said in a bored voice. She hung her arms over her head and stretched them out.

"Maddie, he's being an ass."

"Vida, all he did was ask why I kissed the frog that turned out to be Daggeron. It was a perfectly legitimate question."

"Then why does it bug you so much?"

Damn the twin telepathy. Maddie sighed and sat up, finally looking her sister in the eye. "Because," she said softly. "Because I don't even know why I did it." Vida didn't say anything, knowing that Maddie had more to say. "It's just that," Maddie blew out her breath, her hair flying out in several places. "It's just that I had this… feeling." When Vida looked confused, Maddie sighed again. "You know when you get the feeling that you have to do something?" Vida nodded her head. "That's the kind of feeling I got. I don't know how to explain it. I just felt like I had to kiss the frog… it was almost as if I knew the frog would turn into Daggeron."

Vida nodded her head again. "Then why didn't you say that to Nick?"

"It's so much harder to say it to him!" Maddie explained. She rolled off the bed and walked to the door, grabbing a sweater. She stopped and turned to her sister. "It's so much harder to say it to him because I know I like him. And… I don't know. I guess I'll just have to go tell him now."

Vida smiled and picked up her sweater. She finally got it out of her sister. Despite knowing the fact that her sister knew that her threats were normally harmless, Maddie always succumbed to her, telling her everything. And, this time, she got double what she had expected. Maddie had told her why she had kissed the frog that turned out to be Daggeron… and she had also admitted—_finally_—that she liked Nick.

* * *

That afternoon, Maddie and Vida walked into Rootcore to find Nick, Chip, and Xander sitting around Rootcore's table, a pile of books all around them. Chip was happily reading the book in front of him, his eyes darting excitedly across the page. He was most likely reading some old Mystic legend. Nick was bent over a book, his head in his hands, his eyes occasionally moving from one line to the next. And Xander was leaning back in his chair, a book on top of his head. It was almost as if he hoped the information would soak into his brain.

Vida smirked at Maddie and motioned for her to be quiet. She silently crept up behind Xander, and grasped the back of the chair, pulling as hard as she could. She jumped back as Xander's chair toppled over, his head landing at her feet.

Xander looked up at Vida, who was standing over him. "That wasn't nice," he said in a mock-hurt voice.

Vida bent down and patted his face. "You'll live." She stood up again and made her way over to her chair between Xander and Chip, leaning back leisurely. Maddie was still standing at the door of Rootcore, her eyes darting between Nick and something standing at the top of the stairs. Vida glanced at Nick and saw that he was still engrossed in his book. Deciding it was safe, Vida turned around to see who was standing at the stairs.

There was Daggeron, watching Maddie with a thoughtful look on his face. Vida turned around and caught Maddie's eye, nodding her head. Maddie sucked in her breath and walked down to the table bending down towards Nick.

"Meet me out on the balcony in five minutes," she said into his ear. She stood up and walked away as quickly as her feet would carry her.

* * *

Nick's head snapped up. He turned to see who had whispered in his ear, but he found no one. He could've sworn it was Maddie. He looked across the table and saw Vida sitting there, glaring at him. She nodded her head once, indicating that his suspicions were right.

Nick rubbed a hand over his face. He _had_ acted like an ass today; Xander was quick to point it out, and Chip agreed with him. And if Chip had agreed that he had acted like an ass… then he must've been bad.

But he couldn't help but feel as if everyone was being extremely unfair. It wasn't as if he had exploded and ripped Daggeron's head off. He had kept his head, taking his anger out on Joker. Then, when they had come back to Rootcore, he still hadn't said anything, welcoming Daggeron.

And then, when they were at the Rockporium, it wasn't as if he had blown up at Maddie. He had just asked _why_ she had done it—a perfectly legitimate question.

Still, he couldn't help but feel as if there was a nagging voice in the back of his head, saying that he hadn't given her enough time to explain. That maybe, just maybe, if he had waited two more minutes, he would've gotten an explanation—a _good_ one, at that.

The only way he'd be able to find out is if he went out onto the balcony in five minutes. So Nick shut the spell book and looked at the clock, waiting impatiently.

* * *

Maddie leaned on the balcony railing, looking out at the expanse of Briarwood. It truly was a beautiful place—there wasn't any sound of the city outside of the forest, even though it wasn't that far away. Tendrils of smoke rose up from the forest, showing where the various villages were. Maddie closed her eyes and took a deep breath. You couldn't get this kind of air in the city.

She felt someone next to her. She opened her eyes, expecting to see Nick standing there. Instead, she saw Daggeron.

He smiled down at her, his dark eyes twinkling. "Hello, Madison," he said.

Maddie cracked a smile, then looked away. "Hey, Daggeron."

"You appear to be upset." It wasn't a question, it was a statement. And Maddie couldn't help be feel the slightest bit of resentment.

She sighed heavily. "Yeah."

"Does it have something to do with the red ranger?"

"How did you know?"

"I'm an observant person."

"I noticed."

They were silent for a few moments before Daggeron spoke again. "Could this have anything to do with… me?"

Maddie propped her elbows up onto the railing and ran a hand through her hair. "Maybe," she said. She wasn't entirely sure that she should spill everything to him. He may have saved her life, but he was new, and, besides that, Maddie couldn't help but feel slightly bitter towards him. She couldn't help but feel that it was partially his fault.

"Well," Daggeron said, smiling at the teenager. "I think that you should tell him what really happened."

Maddie finally turned and looked at him. "And what really happened?"

"I used a spell to get you to come to me."

Maddie's eyes widened in shock. "Really?"

Daggeron nodded his head, his smile growing. "Yes. Would you have really kissed a frog, even if it _had_ saved your life?"

Maddie didn't even hesitate. "No."

"Exactly. I did what I had to do in order to be returned to my normal state. You happened to be closest, and out of the fight."

Maddie's face also broke out into a wide smile. "So I _didn't _do it because I somehow knew that you were a human, and I believed that you were my prince, and we would live happily ever after?"

"No, I don't think so," Daggeron said. "Not when you have the red ranger."

Maddie didn't even register what he said. All she heard was "no," and she had thrown her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. It wasn't as if she had ever thought that she had a thing for Daggeron… it was just a relief to hear that he had used a spell, and she hadn't had a sudden urge to kiss a frog. As Maddie opened her eyes, she froze.

Nick was standing at the door, watching Maddie hug Daggeron. His blue-green eyes met Maddie's brown, and they instantly darkened. He turned and walked away. Maddie pulled herself out of Daggeron's breath.

"Shit," she muttered. She sprinted after Nick, yelling a hurried "Thanks, Daggeron!"

Maddie made her way out of Rootcore, running as fast as she could. She ignored Vida, Xander, and Chip's yells as she ran straight through a tree. She ended up right in the middle of the town square, and she could see the red of Nick's shirt.

"Nick!" Maddie called out. He didn't turn around, and Maddie opened her mouth to call out to him again.

Suddenly, she felt something grab her around the neck. Maddie's hands instinctively shot up to her captor's arms, trying to pull them away from her neck. Several people screamed, and Maddie bent her head backwards.

There was Jester, an arm wrapped around her neck.

Maddie finally managed to pull his arm away from her neck enough to scream. "NICK!" she shouted.

But he didn't turn around.

He left her, alone.

And now she really wanted to hit him.

* * *

Author's Note: See! I told you that I'd put some action in it. I hoped you all liked this chapter. We had never really explored why Maddie had kissed the frog that turned out to be Daggeron, so I hope that was a creative way to explain it. And thank you to the two people, Toffy and Destiny45, who reviewed out of the 118 people that read the story. Thanks for the reviews! 


	3. Two More Minutes

He could've sworn he heard a scream.

He could've sworn he heard his name.

Nick Russell, for the hundredth time in the past minute, wondered if this was true. _Had_ he heard screams? _Had_ he heard his name being called? The only thing he could see was Maddie hugging Daggeron tightly. But, all the same, he had to know if he had heard a scream. So he turned around.

And walked straight into a morphed Vida.

"You _asshole_!" she yelled. Nick looked up at her, confused.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"Didn't you hear the people screaming?" Chip asked, putting a hand on Vida's shoulder to restrain her. It wasn't as if he didn't trust Vida… okay, he didn't trust Vida.

Nick winced. So he had heard screaming. Then that meant…

"She called your name!" Vida yelled. "He had her, and she called _your_ name!"

Now Nick was truly confused. "I'm not sure we're on the same page, Vida," he said. Vida let out something similar to a growl and attempted to charge at Nick, but Xander grabbed her other shoulder.

"Maddie was captured by Jester," Xander said quietly.

Nick froze. He _had_ heard his name being called.

And it had been called by her.

* * *

He was an asshole.

Maddie wasn't sure if she was talking about Nick or Jester.

Jester had dragged Maddie to an old warehouse, then used a spell to attach her to the wall and pin her arms over her head. Her feet were dangling from the ground. Maddie had to admit, it wasn't the most comfortable position; but ever since she lost the feeling in her legs, it seemed to have gotten better.

Jester had been ranting and raving about why he had captured her, specifically, then how he was going to kill her. Maddie had basically let him go on for the past half an hour, hoping that a ranger would come in and get her out this. She couldn't curse Jester's ass into oblivion because he had gagged her as well. If she mispronounced a spell because of the gag, something could go seriously wrong.

But, so far, no one had come to bust her out yet.

She was attached to the wall. There wasn't much she could do.

But all the same, she couldn't believe that Nick hadn't turned around. He had completely ignored her… that wasn't like him. Either he was doing something, or something was really bugging him.

Or he was just being an ass.

Either way, she was stuck in a warehouse with Jester the Jackass Pester.

_She_ had to get stuck with the crazy ones.

Suddenly, Maddie noticed that Jester had stopped talking. She let out a sigh of relief. His voice was annoying, after all. But it was odd, because he seemed to be listening intently to something. Then he nodded his head, smiled, and turned to Maddie. Maddie gulped involuntary.

This didn't look good.

* * *

"Do we even know where Maddie is?" Nick asked. Xander shook his head, then glanced over at Vida. By this time, Nick had morphed and was standing off the side of the town square with Xander, Chip, and Vida. Vida still had her arms crossed, and Nick was sure, under her helmet, she was wearing a murderous look.

"She's in an old warehouse out by the piers," Chip said. "Daggeron and Udonna already went out to check out the area."

Nick's face darkened. "Of course Daggeron would go out," he mumbled under his breath, his voice tinged with bitterness.

"What was that?" Vida demanded.

Nick shook his head quickly. "Nothing." He didn't need Vida to verbally abuse him some more. Only five minutes had passed since he had met up with them, and already Vida had called him every insulting word imaginable. He didn't know how much more he could take before his temper got out of control.

"Can you two stop arguing for at least a few minutes?" Xander asked. "We have to meet Daggeron and Udonna at the warehouse in the next three minutes. I'm gonna call the racers to us. Try not to kill each other." He walked off to a relatively clear part of the square and waited for the racers to come.

Not even a few seconds later, they came barreling to the rangers, stopping beside them. Nick immediately noticed the absence of the blue racer, and a ping of guilt surged through him. He shook his head and swung a leg over his racer. He could feel guilty _after_ they rescued Maddie.

* * *

"What are you going to do to me?" Maddie's voice was muffled through the gag, but Jester heard enough to be able to figure it out what she said. Jester reached over and shoved the gag deeper into her mouth.

"Shut up!" he demanded. His angry face contorted to one of insane as his arm transformed into sharp, protruding instruments. Maddie's eyes widened, and she coughed from a mixture of shock and the gag.

Jester trailed one of the sharp instruments down Maddie's side. It cut through her shirt and through her skin. Maddie stiffened, completely unable to move. She felt the blood fall from the open wound, but it was as if she couldn't feel any of the pain. It wouldn't have mattered that she was magically attached to the wall; she wouldn't have been able to move, anyway.

Jester moved the instrument towards her face, and flicked it across her left cheek. Maddie felt the blood trickle down her face. Then, Jester pulled the knife back, ready to shove it right into Maddie's gut. Maddie's face fell as she desperately looked towards all the windows and doors. This was it, then.

She squeezed her eyes shut when she heard Jester let out an insane cackle. She could see it in the back of her mind; Jester moving the knife towards her gut, and she braced herself for the pain that she knew was going to come.

She heard medal clash against medal.

Maddie opened her eyes to see Nick fighting with Jester. Jester was using the knife that was attached to his arm as a sword, while Nick was, of course, using his Magistaff. She felt herself drop to the ground, landing on her bad side. She grunted in annoyance; her arms were still bound together. Suddenly, those to fell to her sides as well. Maddie reached a shaking hand up and pulled the gags out her mouth, relishing the fresh air.

"Are you okay?" she heard several voices ask. Maddie ignored them all, her eyes glued to the fight in front of her. Jester was going down, and quickly. Nick took on the form of the phoenix, and Jester burst into flames, letting out one last cackle before he was gone completely.

Nick ran over to her and bent down in front of her. "Are you okay?" he asked. It was the same questioned that Vida, Xander, Udonna, Chip, and Daggeron had asked her moments ago. Yet Maddie felt that she somehow had to answer this one.

Maddie nodded her head slowly and pulled herself to her feet. She turned and walked right out of the warehouse, where she called her racer to her. She got on and headed back towards Rootcore, not looking back at her confused friends and family once.

* * *

"What was that, Maddie?" Vida demanded. They were at Rootcore, and Maddie was sitting at the table.

"I just wanted to get out of there as fast I could," Maddie said. "Forgive me for wanting to be in a familiar place."

"Maddie, I'm sorry," Vida said in a much softer voice. "You just scared us, that's all." Xander and Chip nodded their heads and murmured words in agreement. Nick stayed silent, staring straight ahead.

Maddie nodded her head and stood up. She walked out onto the balcony without another word, hoping that he would follow. She had figured out exactly what she was going to say to Nick Russell, and he was going to listen without walking away.

A few minutes later, Maddie felt someone standing next to her. This time, when she turned to see who it was, she was relieved to see that it was Nick.

"Look, Nick," Maddie said. "What you saw earlier—"

"You don't need to say anything," Nick said.

Maddie raised an eyebrow. "I don't." She didn't say it as a question. She said as a fact, a statement. Though, she believed she had much to say.

"You kissed him. That makes it pretty obvious."

Maddie rolled her eyes. "Are you still hung up on that?" she asked. Nick stayed silent and looked at the ground. "Just let me explain—"

"Then why didn't you explain at the Rockporium?" Nick asked. He didn't care that people might be watching him. It was time he let Maddie knew how he felt, and this was the first step. "If you have such a good explanation now, why couldn't you explain it to me then?"

"Because I didn't know the truth then!" Maddie exploded. "I didn't know what happened! But I found out today. When I asked you to come out here, I was going to tell you why I thought I did it. But then Daggeron told me the real reason."

"Of course Daggeron told you the real reason," Nick said. His anger was beginning to boil over—and it was all towards the older man in the next room over.

"You don't understand!" Maddie shouted.

"Then tell me!" Nick shouted back. Both heaved their breaths, as if having this conversation was like running a marathon.

"Daggeron cast a spell on me!"

"A spell?"

"Yes, a spell," Maddie said. She felt like she was talking to a two year old. "He cast a spell that made me come to him, that made me kiss him. I didn't do it because I _wanted_ to. I hugged him because I was happy that was the reason. Not because I _wanted_ to. I would never do that because I like you! Okay? I like _you_! And if had stuck around for two more minutes, you would've known that!"

Storm clouds begin to roll in. Lightning flashed in the distance. Maddie turned and walked away, leaving Nick standing in silent shock on the balcony.

Now, he was sure he heard someone screaming.

Only this time, it was a voice in his head, screaming one word:

Asshole.

* * *

Author's Note: There. The third chapter. I really hoped you liked this one. I did, personally. The last chapter should be up soon. Thanks for the great reviews!


	4. Find A Prince

It was raining.

Not just a little sprinkle here and there.

Serious, pouring, rain.

Maddie wasn't entirely sure if she was the cause of it, but she had a feeling she had something to do with the sudden change in the weather.

She walked blindly in the forest, the rain obscuring her vision. She felt that her surroundings were vaguely familiar, but it was a forest. Every single damn thing looked the same.

She couldn't understand what went on between her and Nick.

Time after time.

Over and over again, they fought. Then they made up. It was awkward, and it was getting old. She tried to look at it from his point of view.

Okay, if he really liked her, he would obviously be pissed off because she kissed Daggeron. Or the frog that turned out to be Daggeron. It was understandable enough.

Yet, that didn't make any sense. She didn't know if he liked her.

Maddie shook her head. Hypothetically speaking, he liked her. For the sake of her sanity. So he would be pissed off. But why would he be so angry at _her_?

The answer came easily enough. His damn pride. He never stopped for a moment to think that _maybe_ she wasn't hot for a frog. That there was _maybe_ some different reason. And when he found out that he was wrong, he was embarrassed. It was his pride.

Maybe it was her pride, too.

She hadn't stopped to think about it from his point of view. To maybe see what he felt. She was just concerned with letting him know what had happened.

God, she was so stupid.

And now she was stuck in the woods.

In pouring rain.

_Great._

* * *

Nick immediately went for his racer. He ignored Vida, Xander, and Chip's confused yells. If he had thought for a few more minutes, he might've heard the truth, and none of this would've happened.

If it weren't for his freaking pride, then they wouldn't be in this mess.

As soon as he walked out outside, he was hit with a sheet of freezing rain. Nick was instantly soaked, his Rootcore uniform sticking to him. Leather sticking to you felt kind of weird. But he didn't care.

Time after time.

They always did this. Every time they got in a fight, one of them would walk off and something would happen. When they had gotten in a fight over their project, Nick was the one that walked off and he ended up slipping down the stairs. There was a nasty bruise on his side for weeks.

Granted, Maddie's accidents had been worse. Getting turned into stone. Getting captured by Jester. Getting caught in the rain.

Nick swung his leg over his racer. He took off quickly, leaning over the racer to look for Maddie.

He was going to tell her how he felt.

In the rain.

Vida stared at Nick's retreating form on the racer. "Is _everyone_ going crazy?" she demanded. Xander and Chip shrugged their shoulders, but Vida didn't think that this was good enough of an answer. "No, seriously," she said, getting up. "Maddie's gone crazy. Why the hell would she go out into the rain by herself? And Nick's gone crazy. He went to look for her in the rain." She sighed and threw herself back into the chair. "And I'm crazy for thinking they're crazy."

"Vida," Xander said carefully. "You're not making any sense at all."

"Like I said," Vida snapped. "I'm crazy."

Xander snorted ungracefully. "Obviously."

"Okay," Chip said, standing up. He stood up between their chairs. "We don't need anyone else running off in the rain." He walked over to where the racers were stored and pulled his, Xander, and Vida's out. He tossed each racer to their respective owner before heading to the door.

"Wait," Vida said. "What exactly are we doing?"

Chip stopped and turned to Vida, a smile on his face. "We're going to see if they're truly crazy."

* * *

Lightning flashed. Thunder rumbled.

Maddie had an epiphany.

Maybe being out in the middle of the woods wasn't the best place to be during a raging storm.

She searched for some sort of shelter (that wasn't tree). When there was nothing in the immediate vicinity, she flopped on the ground, leaning back on her palms. She stared up through the trees, the raindrops falling almost painfully on her face.

Oh yeah. She was stupid.

She closed her eyes and let the rain trickle down her face. Being a ranger was complicated. There was nothing easy about it.

And they had _magic_.

Why didn't she just walk through a tree? Or transport herself back to Rootcore?

Well, a tree just led to more outside. There was no tree passage the led to anything indoors. And she didn't know how to transport herself just yet. So those were completely legitimate excuses as to why she couldn't use that sort of magic to get her back.

But she _could_ call her racer to her.

Why didn't she think of that before?

The word _stupid_ flashed through her mind again, but she ignored it. Instead, she stood up, and she was halfway through mentally saying the spell when someone shouted her name. Maddie stopped, and a cheeseburger appeared in her hand. Okay. So you can make cheeseburgers by saying the racer spell halfway. Chip would like that.

Maddie turned to see a burst of red coming towards her. She merrily watched as it zipped past her, stopped and then backed up. A few feet from her, the person jumped off the racer, and she immediately knew it was Nick.

He didn't walk towards her.

He didn't run towards her.

He _sprinted_ towards her.

When Nick stopped in front of Maddie, she could see that he was soaking wet, just as she was. The water dripped down his face, and his blue-green eyes were intense as they looked into her brown ones.

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry isn't good enough."

Maddie was shocked. She was apologizing. And there Nick was, telling her sorry wasn't good enough.

Maddie felt tears prick her eyes. But she didn't care. "Then what is?"

Again, to her utter surprise, Nick cracked a smile. He cupped her face in his hands and leaned close. "This is."

And then he was kissing her.

* * *

"Told you they weren't crazy," Chip said triumphantly.

The pink, green, and yellow rangers stood behind a few bushes, well hidden in the sheets of rain coming down. They watched as their fellow rangers kissed in the rain. But now, neither seemed to notice that was raining.

Vida, Chip, and Xander smiled at each other. Then, there was suddenly an awkward lull in conversation. They glanced at each other, before simultaneously turning back towards their racers.

* * *

Forget singing in the rain.

Kissing in the rain was _so_ much better.

Neither Nick nor Maddie knew how long they stood out there, but they stood out there, kissing for a while. Then, Nick took Maddie's hand and led her to his racer.

"I could take my own racer," Maddie said. But she still got on behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist.

"But you didn't," Nick said. Maddie smiled and rested her cheek on his wet back as they took off.

Wet leather felt weird when it stuck to your skin.

* * *

A few minutes later, they arrived back at Rootcore. Sopping wet, they stood in the middle of the room, where, across from them, stood the other three sopping wet rangers.

"Why are you so wet?" Nick asked.

Chip opened his mouth, a smug smile on his face, but Vida stamped on his foot. Xander stifled a laugh and turned to Nick and Maddie.

"We were… _playing_ in the rain," Xander said.

Vida and Chip couldn't seem to hold their laughter in any longer. All three of them collapsed on the floor, laughing hysterically.

Suddenly catching on, Nick and Maddie blushed furiously. But, all the same, Nick took Maddie in his arms. Maddie fit perfectly in all the right places. She wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head against his chest. She felt him drop a kiss to her forehead. Maddie smiled.

She finally found her prince.

And this time, she didn't have to kiss a frog.

* * *

Author's Note: You all are great. Seriously. Your reviews were amazing! Thanks to everyone who reviewed: Toffy, Destiny45, bluemysticranger01, nayePNDJ180592, Puggles Master, and Mandi96. You're great! And also, thanks to anyone new who reviews this chapter. 


End file.
